Donald Trump’s Will-He-or-Won’t-He Debate Drama Is the Most Trump Ever Done

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The public including Fox News itself may not know if Donald Trump is participating in the networks upcoming Republican debate until hours beforehand. If I were you, I’d keep that center podium warm, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News host Martha MacCallum, who is co-hosting the August 23 primary debate with Bret Baier, on Monday. I think President Trump will keep everyone in suspense, he said, noting that people will be watching on the tarmac to see if he shows up. I hope he goes, Conway added. I hope he comes too, MacCallum said.

MacCallum isn’t the only Fox News host to publicly encourage the former president and Republican frontrunner to appear at next month’s debate in Milwaukee, which Trump still refuses to do. Network personalities including Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, John Roberts, and Piers Morgan have recently taken to the airwaves to lobby Trump, the Washington Post notes. If you want to be president again, you have to go out and face the debate music, Morgan said in an appearance earlier this month. Its the democratic process,” Roberts echoed Monday. “You want voters to look at all the candidates, and if you want to prove that you’re the candidate they should vote for, well, let’s see how you react to the questions that are being asked.”

When asked about the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s participation, a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement to Vanity Fair that the network is looking forward to hosting the first debate of the Republican presidential primary season, offering viewers an unparalleled opportunity to learn more about the candidates’ positions on a variety of issues important to the electoral process.

Meanwhile, top GOP brass are pleading with Trump privately: Republican Party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and longtime Trump adviser David Bossie met with the former president Monday at his Bedminster club and both urged him to participate in the debates, according to the Post. But Trump argued that his appearance would only boost ratings for the Fox Newsa network that he lamented and that he would have little to gain by going, given his lead in the polls. Why would you let someone who isn’t at zero or one or two or three ask you a question? Trump said on Fox News last weekend.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested that Trump counterprogram the debate on Fox by appearing elsewhere at the same time as he did in 2016 and noted that he would not sit down and watch it. One possibility, as reported by Gabriel Sherman last week, is an interview with Tucker Carlson. Trump reportedly asked Carlson if he would do the segment, but no decisions have been made. And on Sunday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that too many people suggested he do a one-on-one with Carlson on debate night.

Trump aside, the contours of the debate stage are still being shaped. Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy all met the RNC’s criteria to qualify, and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie also said he would be on stage, the New York Times reports. (Candidates must have at least 40,000 individual donors and one percent in three national polls of GOP voters, or one percent in two national polls and two primary state polls.) However, former Vice President Mike Pence may not qualify because of lagging fundraising efforts and recently launched an email blitz asking 40,000 people to send a dollar to his campaign. Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and right-wing commentator Larry Elder may not make the cut either. The Times reports that the RNC won’t set a final roster until 48 hours before debate night, when final polls come in and candidates must pledge their support for the eventual Republican nominee.”

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